HOUSTON HEAD COACH James DickeyOpening Statement
"Let me congratulate Texas A&M. They came in and played a very smart basketball game. They played hard and whipped us in the first half. They had too many paint points. When you get down to it, it's about the first half. We dug ourselves a big hole. When you look at the course of the game they had 30 points on second chance points, turnovers and rebounds. You can't do that with anybody.

We gave up 28 points in the second half, but you can't give up 42 points in a half and expect to have a chance to win. That's my job to get them ready for 40 minutes.

They played a lot harder in the second half and executed a lot better. They got most of their points on the inside. We settled for a lot of jump shots and weren't getting the ball inside. We didn't move good enough.

In the second half we cut the lead to single digits, but had key turnovers on certain possessions. We can't have that."

"I really appreciate our student body and all of our fans that came out tonight. We know what a special place this can be, and I'm disappointed that we let our fans and students down. I really appreciate our student body coming out like they did tonight."

On if getting out rebounded was due to a lack of toughness
"It was the problem in the first half, but we competed better in the second half. Elston Turner is a terrific shooter. He made some big time shots tonight. He made big plays when they had to have him. We played more like a team in the second half. We weren't physical enough, didn't carry over our game plan, and didn't compete like we're capable of competing. We have to compete for 40 minutes, and that's the bottom line."

On the lack of offense in the first half
"Their defense was good, and they did a lot of switching. They executed better on both ends of the floor than we did. It was just a matter of execution. We didn't drive the ball very much. In the second half, we got in the bonus early because we were a lot more aggressive. You have to give their defense credit, but we were not efficient offensively. We moved better in the second half and got the ball inside. We drove the ball and got to the free-throw line more, but still missed eight free throws. We have to hit free throws better than that."

On continuing to play Texas A&M in the future
"You cannot play because you got beat. We owe them a game next year, and we'd like to continue the series if that's something they'd like to do. It's two outstanding leagues with two teams that have had a great rivalry over the years. I have great respect for their staff. We would certainly like to continue that if Billy (Kennedy) would. He's a good guy and a good coach, so the answer to that from our institutions perspective would be yes."

On the defensive game
"We didn't compete or execute at the level that we needed to compete at, and that's evident when you look at the box score. They shot 60 percent in the first half, and in the second half they shot 34 percent. It makes a difference when you guard. At the half we talked about defending, competing and having a chance to come back."

On Texas A&M's freshman guard Alex Caruso
"(Alex) Caruso is going to be a terrific player for them. He is throwback in terms of passing the ball. He is a terrific interior passer."

On improvements that need to be made
"We have to get more offensive rebounds. Rebounding is something we work on every day, and we'll continue to do that."

On the tradition of the two teams
"I like the fact that we had the opportunity to have Texas A&M here. We looked forward of the challenge. I hope we can continue to play them. Even though we're in two different leagues, we're still two great institutions. College Station is a great college town, and we live in one of the greatest cities in the country. I was happy that we were able to play. We had a good crowd, and they had a nice contingent here. I hope that's something we can continue."

On the mistakes that were made
"We have to quit hurting ourselves. If you turn the ball over less than ten times and you give up less than ten offensive rebounds you always have a chance to win. When you start getting into double digits on both of those, the other team can convert on those plays. Our guys are good, but we have to get a lot better."

HOUSTON FRESHMAN FORWARD Danuel HouseOn tonight's game
"We weren't able to execute the way we wanted too. We did everything in our power to make a run at the end. Ultimately, it wasn't enough. Texas A&M is a great team, and it was good for us to play great competition. Tonight's game will help us going forward."

HOUSTON SOPHOMORE GUARD J.J. ThompsonOn tonight's game
"They played well tonight. You have to give them credit. We didn't shoot the ball very twell, and that hurt us get into a flow. We needed to get the ball to our guys, so they could make shots. We did not do a good job of that tonight. We didn't come out ready to play in the first half, and it was too much to overcome ultimately."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDYOn Houston's play tonight
"They rose to the challenge, and only gave up certain opportunities. They did a really good job in the first half on establishing their offense."

On senior guard Elston Turner
"You could see his leadership and experience. He would made good decision tonight."

On freshman guard Alex Caruso
"He has six assists in the first half and one at the end, and that was very important for us. He did a good job moving and sharing the ball tonight."

On this week's preparation
"Our guys did a really good job of preparing themselves this week. They had three days to prepare after the Northwestern game. The coaches did a great job of preparing the team also. We also did a great job of sticking to the game plan, especially in the first half. In the first seven minutes of the second half we slipped up a little bit, and you have to give Houston credit. They took advantage of it."

On the rivalry with Houston
"I was here when we were in the Southwest Conference. I like playing other Texas schools because it's good to keep the rivalry going. All of the guys were excited to come and play in Houston. It was good for us. Hopefully we can keep it going."

TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN GUARD ALEX CARUSOOn the shift at half time
"Going into the half we had a decent lead. We stressed before the game to play a full 40 minutes. We knew they were going to come at us. Any home team that's down at the half is going to fight back in the second. We were a little lazy, but we got some stops and made some buckets."

On his total assists
"I don't know if that success was from me or from my teammates getting open. They moved without the ball really well, and Houston fell asleep a couple of times, so I tried everything I could do while I was out on the floor."

TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD ELSTON TURNEROn the second half
"I was just trying to jump start our team in the first half. We got off to a big lead, and then Houston made their little run but that happens. When we are on the road we are going to face some adversity. We really kept our composure and didn't hide under a rock. We kept playing and hit some shots. Overall, it was a great team win.

On the post players contributions
"All week we kept telling them that Houston had great post players and that we were going to help them, but they had to step up."

On playing in his hometown (Turner played at Elkins High in Missouri City, Texas)
"It was a lot of fun. I had my mom and my sister in the stands. A lot of people who went to my high school were also here."